


Smashed glass

by NovemberWings



Series: Anything but the refuge [2]
Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Medda adopted Jack, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, broken glass, mention of the refuge, part of a series but you don't need to read the other ones, scared
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-25 23:44:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17734925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovemberWings/pseuds/NovemberWings
Summary: Medda saved Jack from the Refuge and although she's been kind so far Jack fears the worst, especially when he accidentally breaks a glass.





	Smashed glass

Jack stared into space as he was drying the washing up. He was thinking about the day when Medda had taken him from the refuge and brought him to a kind, warm home. He had been doing so well since he had moved here 2 and a half weeks ago. The only trouble he had caused was when he had called out in his sleep on his first night here. He hadn’t done it again. Sure he was still getting nightmares but he made sure to quieten his sobs and gag in his cries during the night. Medda was okay with him when he had woke her up the first time and she had promised that she wouldn’t take him back to the refuge, but it wasn’t something he really wanted to test.

He had been on his best behaviour every single day. The threat of being returned to the refuge hovering over his head all the time. He never wanted to even see the building again, let alone be back on the inside of it.

His mind went down a dark path. Without meaning to his mind filled with images of young boys being shoved to the floor and being licked with the buckle end of Snyder’s belt for coughing too loudly and girls being dragged out the door by their long, knotted, dirty hair and returning and hour later crying quietly into her pillow. He was transported back there.

The full body dull ache, which had disappeared after a week of living with Medda and not being beaten even once, returned as a phantom pain. His ears filled with no existent sobs being muffled by pillows. The healed bruised on his throat began to throb with anxious pain. He remembered Snyder’s eyes as the man straddled his small body with his hands tightly clasped around his small neck, chocking him. He shivered remembering the cold cruelty casually present in his eyes.

Before he could regain himself completely the involuntary shiver traveled down his spine and up his arms making him lose his grip on the wet glass he was drying. His grip faltered and the next thing that he knew he was pulled unceremoniously into reality by the noise of glass shattering at his feet. It was if someone had just appeared behind him and dunked his head into the basin of water in front of him because he couldn’t breath.

He stared at the shards of glass for a moment, unable to move, unable to will his lungs to breath or his mind to think. Reality came rushing back, bringing with it a possessive hyperventilation. He fell to his knees, not even acknowledging the painful crack as he made contact with the hard wooden floor.

He started gathering glass shards as quickly as he could, his eyes blurring with tears.

Medda may have been kind and gentle so far but there was no way she would let this slide. How in the hell was he this clumsy! How could he let himself be so careless? Smashing Medda’s property when she had saved him from an Earthly hell! And despite fearing his punishment he completely deserved it.

He should be beaten until he thinks he’s going to die. He should be beaten so harshly his entire being with throb with pain for another week. But he was scared. He was so so scared. He just needed to convince Medda not to send him back to the refuge. He would do anything, anything at all, to convince her.

His shaking hands were completely inefficient at gathering the broken glass. Glass just kept falling out of his hands back onto the floor. If he could hurry she may never find out! And then he wouldn’t be punished at all. 

He tried once again to gather the shards but a pair of feet stopped in the doorway to the kitchen. His hands stilled at he looked upwards to see her standing above him.  
“Jack, baby, what happened?”  
“I’m sorry.” He whispered, letting out a little sob before taking a deep breath in to continue, “I’m really sorry ma’am. I dropped the glass. Please. I will work to replace it. I’m real sorry. Please punish me. I will learn. It won’t happen again, please Ms. Medda.”  
“Honey, I can see you dropped the glass.” She said kneeling opposite him, “I meant why are you crying so much?”  
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t cry. I know I shouldn’t cry. I should accept my punishment without a fuss, please forgive me. I’m sorry.” He let out another sob and dropped his head to continue gathering shards in his hands.

Her hand reached out and gently placed her hand atop his small trembling hand, stilling his movement. He didn’t dare raise his head to look into her face, instead hitching his breath and tensing his shoulders at the physical contact.  
“Hey, baby can you look at me please?” Jack swallowed before looking up and meeting his dark eyes. “I’m not going to hurt you, Jack. You’re not going to be punished at all.”  
“But-“ He cut himself off, realising he was about to disagree with her.  
“But what?” She asked, forcing him to shamefully continue his disobedient train of thought.  
“The glass?” He said, his words distraught.  
“It’s only a glass, Jack. Did you mean to break it?” She asked raising an eyebrow.  
“No!” He exclaimed his mouth dropping open in horror at solely the notion that he would do such a thing on purpose. “It was an accident, Ms. Medda! I swear it was!” She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, telling him silently to be quiet making the words die on his lips.  
“Then why would I punish you for making a mistake. It was an accident. An’ even if it wasn’t an accident I still wouldn’t hurt you.”

Jack stared at her for a moment before she insisted once more.  
“I’m not going to hurt you.” There was a pause of silence, and he could see her inner debate written all over her features. “Come on. Give me a hug.” She opened her arms, but wasn’t crowding him. After a moment of brief hesitation Jack dropped the glass and lent into her torso, curling his arms around her waist. She hugged him back gentle for a moment before talking;  
“How ‘bout we clean up this mess and go out for ice cream?” She suggested.  
“I would like that.” Jack smiled into her shoulder.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! Another Jack angst!  
> I've been craving to upload something for Newsies so badly! I've had mock exams so I haven't been able to write for a while but one night I was like 'remember that Anything but the refuge? Write more!' So hopefully you like my little addition. I think I would like to do a few more oneshot angsts like this for other characters too.  
> I've got my A-levels coming up soon and obviously they're super important so I don't want to start a series so we might be stuck on oneshots for a while (but there is definitely a long story in the works) I just want to solidify the concept and get a few chapters under my belt before committing to an uploading schedule.
> 
> Hopefully you guys like this series! and like this story too! Please leave a comment I really appreciate them!


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